What's the best way to help your family get through a divorce?
Every situation — and every family — is different. But these suggestions
can make the process less painful for kids, teens, and families.
Helping Kids Manage Their Feelings
Encourage kids to share their feelings — positive or negative — about
what's happening.
It's important for divorcing — and already divorced — parents to sit
down with their kids and encourage them to say what they're thinking and feeling.
But keep this separate from your own feelings. Assure your kids that their feelings
are important, valid, and normal. Let them know that you can handle a conversation
about even difficult or painful feelings.
During these conversations, avoid problem solving and trying to change the way
a child feels. Instead focus on listening and thanking kids for their honesty. Most
often, kids feel a loss of family and may blame you or the other parent — or
both — for what's going on in their lives. So, you'll need to be ready to answer
questions your kids might raise or to address their concerns.
Make talking about the divorce and how it's affecting your kids an ongoing process.
As they get older and become more mature, kids might have questions or concerns that
they hadn't thought of earlier. Even if it seems like you've gone over the same topics
before, keep the dialogue open. If possible, sit down with the other parent and plan
how you're going to talk about what's going on.
If you feel like you may get too upset, ask someone else (a relative, maybe) to
talk to your kids. It's OK and healthy for kids to see their parents feel sad or upset,
but getting very emotional can make them feel responsible for their parents' feelings.
If your children do see you struggle with a difficult emotion, model healthy coping
as much as possible. Try to:
- Label your emotion for them ("I'm feeling sad right now.">).
- State that you know it's OK to feel this way sometimes (It's OK and normal for
me to feel sad").
- Talk about how you'll cope with your tough feelings ("Something that always helps
me feel better when I'm sad is baking cookies with you or playing outside. Let's go
do it!").
It's natural for kids to have many emotions about a divorce. They might feel guilty
and imagine that they "caused" the problem. This is particularly true if kids overheard
their parents arguing about them. Kids and teens may feel angry or frightened, or
worried about their future. If they voice these emotions, reassure them that this
was not the case while reminding them that it's a normal feeling.
Although kids may struggle with a divorce for quite a while, the real impact is
usually felt over about a 2- to 3-year period. During this time, some can voice their
feelings. But, depending on their age and development, other kids just won't have
the words. They may instead act out or be depressed. For school-age kids, this might
mean their grades drop or they lose interest in activities. For younger children,
these feelings are often expressed during play too. Be aware of a "sleeper effect"
with young children: they might take big changes in stride at first, but disruptive
behaviors or challenging emotions can come up years later. Communicating openly with
kids and modeling healthy coping, even if they seem OK with the big changes, can reduce
trouble down the road.
It may be tempting to tell a child not to feel a certain way, but kids (and adults,
for that matter) have a right to their feelings. And if you try to force a "happy
face," your kids may be less likely to share their true feelings with you.
Group programs for kids of divorce run by schools or faith-based organizations
are an excellent resource for kids and families who need some help to get through
these early stages.
